I would wait and see how the heat from your Woo and tubes affect the wood and also the Heat displacement from the Woo is affected. You may want and try a EML 5U4G mesh in place of the Princess Rectifier.

ss

doesn't the stock version have metal plates over those portions? I would assume those conduct some heat, but his setup looks amazing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillysally

The Denon D7000s are a much nicer headphone than the AKG 701/702. However the D7000s have a more vertical soundstage than the 701/702s.

When you re-cable your 701/702 i hope you re-cable with both right and left cords as apposed to a single cord. The 701/702 are a very bright headphone and can cause ear fatigue because of there harshness. Also if you want Bass the 701/702s are not for you.

Probably the best headphone on the market now is the Sennheiser HD800 however you may want to re-cable those also.

Keep in mind that just because you have a audiophile headphone like the D7000 or HD800 you still need a audiophile headphone amp and source like the Woo. And yes the new Woo 6 is a nice starter tube amp if you have the right combination of tubes.

I would like to get the Woo as my next amp. I actually have a Denon AH-D2000 coming in for my starter Denon headphone. I plan on re-cabling those with either the D7000 cable or a different cable altogether. I also have plans on doing the Lawton mods to it. I just like the fact that I can do 1 step at a time to see what works best (first thing is the J$ pads and then re-cable). I'm not sure what I'd like to get for my dedicated setup (as my current one is at my computer desk). I do like what 'DoingOk' has going though. That is in-line with what I want (comfy chair, 2-3 different headphones for different styles of music).

doesn't the stock version have metal plates over those portions? I would assume those conduct some heat, but his setup looks amazing!

I am not saying the wood will defiantly harm the Amp, and yes those are metal plates and also thick. The reason for the thick metal that is used on the Woos is because of heat displacement, there are no fans on the Woo.

Just to give you a idea, my Woo's PSU is 40 pounds the amp is 35 pounds. And I can say I would never put that wood on my Woo, not only because of the huge PSU and Amp but because of the heat those tubes give off. Woo's are custom built one at a time, there is no PC board its all Point-to-Point wiring.

Quote:

I would like to get the Woo as my next amp. I actually have a Denon AH-D2000 coming in for my starter Denon headphone. I plan on re-cabling those with either the D7000 cable or a different cable altogether. I also have plans on doing the Lawton mods to it. I just like the fact that I can do 1 step at a time to see what works best (first thing is the J$ pads and then re-cable). I'm not sure what I'd like to get for my dedicated setup (as my current one is at my computer desk). I do like what 'DoingOk' has going though. That is in-line with what I want (comfy chair, 2-3 different headphones for different styles of music).

Yes that is what I have, a comfy chair in my man cave. I also have the Denon D7000, AKG701 (never use those), Sennheiser HD650 with a Cardas Cable, Grado 325i, and of course Sennheiser HD800 with a Cardas cable.
The Sennheiser HD800 is the only headphone that I use its that good.
If you like to recable the Sennheiser's are great for that. The cable plugs in both the left Ch and right Ch of the headphones. There are many differant cables to choose from that come with the plugs attached and with different sound signatures.

My source player is a Oppo BD-83NE and its hooked directly to my Woo amp via interconnect King Cobra cables (1M). So not only do I use my headphone amp for CD/SACD(DSD), DVD-A I use it for my BD movies. The Oppo BD-83SE/NE is a really a great player for most any music and does a fantastic job of downmixing the HD audio tracks from BD movies. With the BD-83SE/NE I don't need a external DAC.
I also have a Onkyo TX-SR705A/V and Onkyo SKS-HT240 7.1 speakers(added 1 SKB-240) but I never use the Onkyo HDMI sound system because my headphone rig just blows my speaker rig away, and that goes for movie soundtracks also.

I am not saying the wood will defiantly harm the Amp, and yes those are metal plates and also thick. The reason for the thick metal that is used on the Woos is because of heat displacement, there are no fans on the Woo.

Just to give you a idea, my Woo's PSU is 40 pounds the amp is 35 pounds. And I can say I would never put that wood on my Woo, not only because of the huge PSU and Amp but because of the heat those tubes give off. Woo's are custom built one at a time, there is no PC board its all Point-to-Point wiring.

Yes that is what I have, a comfy chair in my man cave. I also have the Denon D7000, AKG701 (never use those), Sennheiser HD650 with a Cardas Cable, Grado 325i, and of course Sennheiser HD800 with a Cardas cable.
The Sennheiser HD800 is the only headphone that I use its that good.
If you like to recable the Sennheiser's are great for that. The cable plugs in both the left Ch and right Ch of the headphones. There are many differant cables to choose from that come with the plugs attached and with different sound signatures.

My source player is a Oppo BD-83NE and its hooked directly to my Woo amp via interconnect King Cobra cables (1M). So not only do I use my headphone amp for CD/SACD(DSD), DVD-A I use it for my BD movies. The Oppo BD-83SE/NE is a really a great player for most any music and does a fantastic job of downmixing the HD audio tracks from BD movies. With the BD-83SE/NE I don't need a external DAC.
I also have a Onkyo TX-SR705A/V and Onkyo SKS-HT240 7.1 speakers(added 1 SKB-240) but I never use the Onkyo HDMI sound system because my headphone rig just blows my speaker rig away, and that goes for movie soundtracks also.

ss

Very Nice! I have shifted from getting a killer HT rig to more attention to the Headphone Rig. I figure I could get a nice Headphone rig for about $2500 or so...versus $6-7000 for a comparable (sound wise) HT setup. Then again, I'm greedy and want to enjoy my music in private anyway. So, all my effort has been going into learning as much as I can about headphones, Amps and Dacs, etc... So I can eventually get my close to perfect rig setup. I actually started building gaming cables and other items (including modded headphones) to supplement funds to get my rig together.

I like the triple fi's quite a bit and are a nice change from the airy highs of the AKGs though I thing my sources for both are severely under spec. But that's what I have for now as I seem to have blown the budget on the phones.

Looking for a dac and amp to use with the AKGs at the moment. Really debating what Emo is looking to release for the DAC and possibly something tube, maybe Woo, as an amp.

Amp runs fine.......transformer cover is actually raised by a thin washer I added between the wood and case to allow any heat to escape that wouldn't just dissipate through the aluminum walls. Wood around the tubes barely gets warm. There is a lot of surface area to still allow heat transfer and so far I have zero issues. I have 20+ years of nuclear engineering background so I understand thermal theory and heat transfer quite well. I actually ordered some Absorb-gel adapters for the drive tubes and that will raise them above the wood for added assurance.

I like the triple fi's quite a bit and are a nice change from the airy highs of the AKGs though I thing my sources for both are severely under spec. But that's what I have for now as I seem to have blown the budget on the phones.

Looking for a dac and amp to use with the AKGs at the moment. Really debating what Emo is looking to release for the DAC and possibly something tube, maybe Woo, as an amp.

Definitely a good start... I'm very new to all of this too. Slowly going up the ladder in quality of products.

Amp runs fine.......transformer cover is actually raised by a thin washer I added between the wood and case to allow any heat to escape that wouldn't just dissipate through the aluminum walls. Wood around the tubes barely gets warm. There is a lot of surface area to still allow heat transfer and so far I have zero issues. I have 20+ years of nuclear engineering background so I understand thermal theory and heat transfer quite well. I actually ordered some Absorb-gel adapters for the drive tubes and that will raise them above the wood for added assurance.

Nice, I wonder... would adding those 'generic' aluminum fins to the sides of the Amp reduce temps even more, or are they more centered around the tubes?

Amp runs fine.......transformer cover is actually raised by a thin washer I added between the wood and case to allow any heat to escape that wouldn't just dissipate through the aluminum walls. Wood around the tubes barely gets warm. There is a lot of surface area to still allow heat transfer and so far I have zero issues. I have 20+ years of nuclear engineering background so I understand thermal theory and heat transfer quite well. I actually ordered some Absorb-gel adapters for the drive tubes and that will raise them above the wood for added assurance.

Glad to hear it. Yes Woo does a very nice job of hand winding there transformers. My WA6SE never seemed to get hot on top of the 3 transformers it has and my WA5LE seems to be the same way, and as you may know those 4 are huge on the WA5s.
I would caution you, if you make your very nice wood plates for a WA5, be warned that the area around the 300Bs and 6SN7s particularity if you are running the Shugang Treasure 300Bs and the CV-181s can get very warm.

where I will get me a Crazy comfy chair, a very nice tube amp setup (and hopefully Electrostatics).

I have STAX 404 and an old SRM1 SS amp for them. I'm slowly building a trioded EL34 direct drive amp to power them and am playing with some plate to driver cathode feedback as I have too much gain though I may change the driver stage as well. I'm also experimenting with cross coupling a la Meier.

The PS iron is left over from previous projects and very over specified for the job, so this will be a big heavy beast when done.

I have STAX 404 and an old SRM1 SS amp for them. I'm slowly building a trioded EL34 direct drive amp to power them and am playing with some plate to driver cathode feedback as I have too much gain though I may change the driver stage as well. I'm also experimenting with cross coupling a la Meier.

The PS iron is left over from previous projects and very over specified for the job, so this will be a big heavy beast when done.

I'm slowly building a trioded EL34 direct drive amp to power them and am playing with some plate to driver cathode feedback as I have too much gain though I may change the driver stage as well.

I'm building a tube amplifier to replace the SRM1. This will use EL34 output tubes which are pentodes, in this instance converted to triodes for better sound. The amplifier will need another stage before the output tubes to get enough signal. My preferred driver stage has a bit too much, so I will use some feedback to lower the gain and the amplifier's output impedance. If I'm not happy with this, I'll use another driver stage design I have.

Direct coupled simply means that between the output tubes and the headphone elements there will be no other components, eg transformers, capacitors except for the connecting wire.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A9X-308

I'm also experimenting with cross coupling a la Meier.

I'm experimenting with feeding a small EQ'd portion of the LH channel into the right and vice versa, based upon an article by Jan Meier to try to create a more spacious, less in the head experience.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A9X-308

The PS iron is left over from previous projects and very over specified for the job, so this will be a big heavy beast when done.

If I were to connect a conventional tube amp output transformer and use this amp with speakers, it would put out about 10W class A (with ES headphones, almost nothing). The power supply transformers I have spare would more suit a 100W or so amp, so are very oversize (about 16kg), but they are already here and so effectively free. The amp will be large and heavy because of this.

I have a Red Wine Audio modified iPod with lossless files on it. It goes into a Ray Samuels Tomahawk which feeds a pair of Ultimate Ears UE10s. The setup takes the edge off having to travel away from my home system.

I have a Red Wine Audio modified iPod with lossless files on it. It goes into a Ray Samuels Tomahawk which feeds a pair of Ultimate Ears UE10s. The setup takes the edge off having to travel away from my home system.

Nice, I took a look at the Red Wine Audio mod... ouch, that's a lot of money (to me anyway). Does it sound that much better than a LOD going into an amp? Does using a LOD bypass the internal amp section so it dumps out after the internal DAC, no? I don't know about these things... as I don't listen to my iPod much.

Nice, I took a look at the Red Wine Audio mod... ouch, that's a lot of money (to me anyway). Does it sound that much better than a LOD going into an amp? Does using a LOD bypass the internal amp section so it dumps out after the internal DAC, no? I don't know about these things... as I don't listen to my iPod much.

So, it doesn't sound better, or it doesn't exit the the ipod before the amp section in a LOD? Not sure what "No it doesn't" refers to (which part).

I tried switching back and forth so many times between an I-Mod and a regular I-Pod, the difference I experienced, if any, is so miniscule, that I feel it is placebo more than anything else. I would highly doubt that I could identify them one from the other in an ABX test.

I tried switching back and forth so many times between an I-Mod and a regular I-Pod, the difference I experienced, if any, is so miniscule, that I feel it is placebo more than anything else. I would highly doubt that I could identify them one from the other in an ABX test.

I tried this with a Pico Amp and Shure 530SE headphones.

Awesome! Thanks for saving me a bunch of money (No, this is not a Geico commercial )! I think I'm going to contact Apple (or stop by) and have them take a look at my iPod to fix the center button. Then, gonna build myself a LOD to use with my Fiio E5 (used it once since I got it), and call it a day. I think I might get the KSC-75 to go with it too... since I'm not really going to use the Sennheiser CX-250 (as I got them before I realized I don't really like IEMs).

Comparatively speaking, what was the best Dynamic headphone setup that you've had/heard that your Stax setup trumps?

I honestly don't recall. I went to the biggest hifi store in Sydney (Len Wallis) a couple of years back and spent a morning listening to everything they had and nothing I heard was good enough to be considered. Nor really to generate much interest in continuing the search.
I mainly use cans in bed to listen at night as they are not my preferred method of listening.

I tried switching back and forth so many times between an I-Mod and a regular I-Pod, the difference I experienced, if any, is so miniscule, that I feel it is placebo more than anything else. I would highly doubt that I could identify them one from the other in an ABX test.

Agreed. I can easily tell the difference between my regular ipod with the lossy files on it and the iMod with the lossless files on it. I doubt I could tell the difference if the iPod and the iMod had the same files on them. I'll have to try that some time.

I find them so much better than dynamics that I'd rather not listen to anything else. Not heard everything like HD800's though.

I am not sure of what you are trying to build, but your electrostatic type push-pull Stax ear speakers I don't think will give you any more out of head audio. Even If you went with a much higher end Stax SR-007 Mk2 Electrostatic Headphone and a much higher end electrostatic amp I would still have my reservations. And don't misunderstand me a electrostatic system that is well designed can be very good, It just depends on what type of sound you want.

Yes the HD-800s are one of the best headphones made for out of head and most any thing for that matter. But as you probably know the HD-800s will not work in a Stax system like yours, you would have to go to a dynamic system and a high end system.

Going to some store will not give you a idea of what a really nice dynamic or electrostatic system will do. There are many dynamic systems that will blow your current system away.

I was just talking to a few guys on the "gaming headphone" thread... and we started talking about Electrostatics too. I saw an intense picture that I really liked...
till I found out the headphones alone are $2600, and the amp was in the $5000 range. OUCH says my wallet. So, I wonder if a HiFiMan HE-5LE headphone and good amp would be a decent enough substitute. I could probably pull that off for $2600.

Now your talking. That's a highly regarded system and that price is just for starters, oh and one more thing you may have to wait a year to get it plus pay your money upfront to get on the list (if he is still making them). And there is also the BHSE and the WES to compare if you are going that rout.

I can understand why a system like I have listed about(Electrostatic) would be great for gamers, but there again I have read many folks that have the high end Electrostatic Stax headphones are a little disappointed with the out of head soundsatge.

Yes A Woo system is very good with the HD-800s and also take a look at the Eddie Current systems. These are all tube systems, but keep in mind that these prices you see are with low grade tubes. So you probably will get the tube rolling bug and that can run into some big bucks. My WA5LE has about $1400 in tubes running on that amp, and then there are the upgraded parts to think about.
But my system is a 300B and these tubes can get very costly, my WA6SE tubes cost about $600 for a really nice set.
I also have a matched pair of NOS 6SN7GT Tungsol Black glass round plate 1942-1944 (very rare) coming from Greece.

Now your talking. That's a highly regarded system and that price is just for starters, oh and one more thing you may have to wait a year to get it plus pay your money upfront to get on the list (if he is still making them). And there is also the BHSE and the WES to compare if you are going that rout.

I can understand why a system like I have listed about(Electrostatic) would be great for gamers, but there again I have read many folks that have the high end Electrostatic Stax headphones are a little disappointed with the out of head soundsatge.

Yes A Woo system is very good with the HD-800s and also take a look at the Eddie Current systems. These are all tube systems, but keep in mind that these prices you see are with low grade tubes. So you probably will get the tube rolling bug and that can run into some big bucks. My WA5LE has about $1400 in tubes running on that amp, and then there are the upgraded parts to think about.
But my system is a 300B and these tubes can get very costly, my WA6SE tubes cost about $600 for a really nice set.
I also have a matched pair of NOS 6SN7GT Tungsol Black glass round plate 1942-1944 (very rare) coming from Greece.

ss

Wow, I love the look of the Woo... and the fact that they are US Made (not that other countries can't make audio stuff... just wanna support my US bretheren). Plus, they're in N.Y.C. I wonder if they have a showroom. I'd love to drive down and listen to a few of their amps.

I actually know, very little about audio... and even less about Tubes. So, I finally got my Little Dot I+ and have been burning it in with my freshly modded Grados (which sound really good right now). I know it's all low end stuff, but I have to start somewhere. Ordering my Denon D2000 this weekend and going to do a few mods on those as well.

Where do you source your tubes from? Is there a primer that would tell me that the 6J1 tube is equal to an EF95 or whatever those things are, and the Sylvania Gold 408a is equal to tube 'X' or something. I just want to get the basics down before I start looking to roll tubes. I don't want to source from eBay either... I'd rather have an actual store.

Wow, I love the look of the Woo... and the fact that they are US Made (not that other countries can't make audio stuff... just wanna support my US bretheren). Plus, they're in N.Y.C. I wonder if they have a showroom. I'd love to drive down and listen to a few of their amps.

Just E-Mail Jack Wu (owner) and ask him, he is a great guy and one guy I would recommend taking his advice.

Quote:

I actually know, very little about audio... and even less about Tubes. So, I finally got my Little Dot I+ and have been burning it in with my freshly modded Grados (which sound really good right now). I know it's all low end stuff, but I have to start somewhere. Ordering my Denon D2000 this weekend and going to do a few mods on those as well.

Did you get it from David? Also a very nice man.
My first amp was a LD MKIV SE, my son now has it along with a pair of HD-650s I gave him, he loves it.

Quote:

Where do you source your tubes from? Is there a primer that would tell me that the 6J1 tube is equal to an EF95 or whatever those things are, and the Sylvania Gold 408a is equal to tube 'X' or something. I just want to get the basics down before I start looking to roll tubes. I don't want to source from eBay either... I'd rather have an actual store.

The Tubes that I have in my WA5LE all came from Jack at Woo Audio. Grant Audio is the distributor for Shugang Treasure 300B matched pair, Grade A and the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z / 6SN7GT matched pair, Grade A. TUBESUSA is the distributor for my EML 5U4G Rectifier tubes. That said I have got tubes on E-Bay also.

but your electrostatic type push-pull Stax ear speakers I don't think will give you any more out of head audio. Even If you went with a much higher end Stax SR-007 Mk2 Electrostatic Headphone and a much higher end electrostatic amp I would still have my reservations.

SS, do you get that I don't care? I'm building this for me based upon my experiences, preferences and tastes.

Your 'push-pull' comment and liking of the Woo amps leads me to believe you have drunk the SET Kool Aid. But look, Woo make a push-pull EL34 based ES amp. Mine doesn't cost $US5k has a better driver stage (doesn't use the rubbish 12AU7) nor the 5AR4. Total cost for my system incl what the parts cost originally and the 404 which I bought new at a great price will be maybe $A1200.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillysally

And don't misunderstand me a electrostatic system that is well designed can be very good, It just depends on what type of sound you want.

Accuracy mainly, and to date, none of the dynamic systems I've heard have even been close sounding thick, closed and muddy compared to stats.

From what I have read so far x-coupling is fairly sound in theory, costs very little for me to implement and I can adjust to to preference and it will be switchable.

Plus, I have all the parts, am an EE with some decades of designing and building tube amplification systems, I enjoy it for a hobby and I felt like building some tube gear again for a change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillysally

Yes the HD-800s are one of the best headphones made for out of head and most any thing for that matter. But as you probably know the HD-800s will not work in a Stax system like yours, you would have to go to a dynamic system and a high end system.

Obviously the HD800's won't work with my headamp. But if I change the plate loads from chokes or CCS to a transformer of the correct ratio, they will. Cost maybe $300 and 20 mins work. If I ever heard the HD800's and was impressed enough to buy them, and they would have to be a considerable amount better, not just different from what I have it would not be hard to design and build a high performance headamp for them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillysally

Going to some store will not give you a idea of what a really nice dynamic or electrostatic system will do.

Did you bother to look at the link for the store? It's not exactly Best Buy. The system I used was the TOTL STAX at the time, incl the Omegas (and my 404 and Lambda Pro) and the tube driver amp. The dynamics were powered by some expensive dedicated headamp, but I don't recall which, so it was a more than fair and reasonable comparison. I took my time and none of the dynamics came close. Perhaps the HD800 would, but until I see and hear them myself, I doubt it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillysally

There are many dynamic systems that will blow your current system away.

ss

Perhaps, but based upon a couple of decades of hearing 'blow you away' hundreds or thousands of times, it's happened exactly twice with two surprisingly modest, yet exceedingly competently engineered systems. So until the BYA system is placed in front of me and it's merits proven, it's just audiophile hyperbole.

Just E-Mail Jack Wu (owner) and ask him, he is a great guy and one guy I would recommend taking his advice.

- Even though I'd love to go down and audition (40 minute drive for me), my wallet is afraid... especially in today's economy and my financial position... could be hazardous to my health...

Quote:

Did you get it from David? Also a very nice man.
My first amp was a LD MKIV SE, my son now has it along with a pair of HD-650s I gave him, he loves it.

Yes, he also responds quickly to emails too.

Quote:

The Tubes that I have in my WA5LE all came from Jack at Woo Audio. Grant Audio is the distributor for Shugang Treasure 300B matched pair, Grade A and the Shuguang Treasure CV181-Z / 6SN7GT matched pair, Grade A. TUBESUSA is the distributor for my EML 5U4G Rectifier tubes. That said I have got tubes on E-Bay also.